Against the odds: academic underdogs benefit from incremental theories |
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Authors: | Jody L Davis Jeni L Burnette Scott T Allison Heather Stone |
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Institution: | (1) The Norwegian University of Sport and Physical Education, Oslo, Norway |
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Abstract: | An implicit theory of ability approach to motivation argues that students who believe traits to be malleable (incremental
theorists), relative to those who believe traits to be fixed (entity theorists), cope more effectively when academic challenges
arise. In the current work, we integrated the implicit theory literature with research on top dog and underdog status to predict
self-efficacy in an academic context. To examine our predictions, we assessed college students’ (N = 165) implicit theories of mathematical ability and manipulated their underdog versus top dog status in a math competition.
We hypothesized that holding an incremental (vs. entity) theory would interact with competition status (underdog vs. top dog)
to predict mathematical self-efficacy. When in an underdog position, incremental (vs. entity) theories boosted students’ mathematical
self-efficacy. Moreover, a mediated moderation model revealed that the experience of less helplessness accounted for greater
self-efficacy in mathematical ability among academic underdogs with incremental (vs. entity) theories. Implications for teaching
practices are discussed. |
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Keywords: | |
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